\n \n \n “. concat(self. i18n. t(‘search. voice. recognition_retry’), “\n
(Adds from a Shenzhen resident)
By David Kirton and Roxanne Liu
SHENZHEN, China, July 21 (Reuters) – The megacity of Shenzhen in southern China has pledged to “mobilize all resources” to curb the slow spread of the COVID-19 outbreak, ordering the strict implementation of controls and temperature, and the closure of affected buildings. through COVID.
Shenzhen, with a population of nearly 18 million, reported 22 new cases transmitted on Wednesday, and the daily number jumped from one figure to single digits earlier this month.
Although the number of cases remains negligible by global standards, the slowness has led the Shenzhen government to be more vigilant, to comply with the central government’s “zero dynamic” policy of containing outbreaks as soon as they appear.
Shenzhen did not order the general closure of businesses or serious restrictions on the movement of people, but sealed off residential complexes and buildings known as higher risk. Officials were asked to make their measures against viruses more aimed at unnecessarily disrupting the economy.
Meng Fanli, head of the city’s Communist Party, said Shenzhen will “mobilize all resources and take all measures to temporarily mitigate the threat of communal spread in key areas, resolutely cut the chains of transmission, and engage the outbreak as temporarily as possible. “
On an overdue Wednesday, Meng also warned that the city government would seriously consider the culprits guilty for any negligence leading to the spread of the virus.
Of the 22 local infections on Wednesday, thirteen were detected in Shenzhen’s Nanshan district, home to tech giants Tencent and DJI.
MENTAL TOLL
In March, when the number of cases began to rise from low double-digit numbers, Shenzhen followed a week of so-called “slow living,” in which citizens underwent several rounds of testing and largely stayed home, with one member of both a family allowing one and both days to spend a few days for needs.
This marked one of the shortest lockdowns among COVID-affected cities with populations over 10 million and milder than Wuhan in 2020.
Many citizens were proud of Shenzhen’s handling of the week-long shutdown, with supermarket shelves stocked and largely operating normally, especially compared to the two-month shutdown in Shanghai.
Since March, queues on the street to get tested have continued every day. Shenzhen has not closed entire neighborhoods, but remote residential complexes where new cases are discovered.
But the measures have had an intellectual effect on some residents.
“Every day I wake up and consult the complex organization anxiously,” said Ella, who runs an education company.
“I hate how now I have to know where I’m going, what I’m doing, and point out all that to leave and come back. “
She said she and her husband, both U. S. citizens, plan to return to the United States.
Including the most recent cases from Shenzhen, mainland China reported 826 new COVID cases by July 20, of which 148 were symptomatic and 678 asymptomatic, the National Health Commission said on Thursday.
In the northern port city of Tianjin, two other districts, with a total population of more than a million, have suspended entertainment venues, following similar COVID restrictions announced Monday in two districts with more than 2 million people.
There are no new deaths, leaving the number of deaths in the country at 5,226.
As of July 20, mainland China had shown 228,180 cases with symptoms, adding cases and foreign travelers, since the pandemic first hit in December 2019. (Report via Roxanne Liu, David Kirton and Shanghai Newsroom; edited by Simon Cameron-Moore)